Fire and Ice Part 6
by Cassiem101
Summary: A zutara fanfiction.


A day passed lazily. Katara practiced her waterbending, and didn't do much else. They had steak for dinner and Katara found she wasn't hungry. She excused herself and went to her room. She just wanted to relax and maybe read a book, but instead she began to think of a song she had heard Iroh humming yesterday. When she had heard him, she got him to teach her the words. It was rather different to the songs he usually sang, and he had admitted he had heard Azula singing it and he had picked up on it. She began singing it now.

"I'm gonna fight em off.

A seven nation army couldn't hold me back.

They're gonna rip it off.

Takin their time right behind my-" Katara didn't finish as someone entered her room behind her.

She leapt up and spun around, eyes blazing angrily. Zuko stood with his foot to the wall, an eyebrow raised.

"What's with you sneaking up on me?" She demanded.

"Who, me?" Zuko grinned. His scar creased up and Katara melted. She sighed and walked over to stand next to him on the wall.

"Yes, you. What's wrong?"

Zuko noticed the change in her voice and smiled inwardly. "Why do you think something's wrong whenever I see you? I just want what's best for you."

Katara's eyes filled with tears of hurt. Zuko took a step back. "Woah, Katara, what's wrong?"

"Aang used to say that, when he was… when he…" Katara was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, when all of a sudden she found her cheek pressed against Zuko's warm top, his hand stroking her head. It was comforting, but she couldn't stop crying.

"Katara, shh. It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you." Katara began really sobbing hysterically now. She felt as if she was trapped.

Toph ran into the room, and with one hand, backhanded Zuko into the wall. She took his place, except she put her hand on Katara's shoulders and shook her. "Shut up! You're scaring the customers away!"

Katara took a shaky breath and stood up, tears still flowing. "Y-yes. I-I'm okay n-now, I think-k."

nodded. "You better be." Katara nodded back and walked away, presumably to the bathroom.

Zuko picked himself off the floor and dusted himself down. "Toph-" he began.

Toph, even though angry at Katara, was also fiercely protective of her. She embedded Zuko in rock up to his chin. "What did you do to her?" She hissed.

"Nothing! I came in, and I said something and she just started crying. Honestly, nothing."

"Do you know what she's been through? Do you?" Toph had climbed like a monkey up the mountain of rock and now she shoved her face in Zuko's.

He shook his head. "No. I haven't heard from her in two years."

Toph's eyes widened. He didn't know? Well, Aang wouldn't have told anyone. She only knew because she had heard it.

She released the rock and sat down on the ground. She put her head between her hands.

"Aang tried… He tried to get Katara in bed with him. She refused, so he called her names. They were really, really horrible things to say. They didn't actually…" She let her voice trail off, before she gulped and continued. "They didn't actually do anything, but he verbally abused Katara for a week before she broke it off."

Zuko sat next to Toph. His head was spinning. His loyal friend, the avatar? No. It couldn't be possible.

"What, you think I'm lying, don't you?" Toph's tone was accusatory.

He didn't answer that. "What did he call her?"

"Frigid. Fat. Ugly. Stupid cow. Worse, much worse." She spat the words out like bullets.

"When was this?" Zuko asked.

"Two weeks ago."

"The summit! That's why." Zuko exclaimed. Toph looked at him, her green eyes unblinking.

"Sorry. But I know Aang and I know he just wouldn't call Katara that for no reason, or just because she refused to sleep with him.

"There was a summit, a meeting of the four nation's leaders, about two weeks ago. I was there, the Earth King was there, the leaders of the North and South water tribes were there, and I asked Aang to step in for the air nomads. He also was there as the avatar, and had to perform a very strenuous opening ceremony. It required lots of rehearsal beforehand, and even I was stressed about it. So imagine the pressure Aang was under…"

Toph leapt to her feet. "That's it! I thought he wouldn't normally be such an idiot! You solved the puzzle."

Zuko nodded. "Yes, but look what it's done to Katara. Her self esteem is lower than I've ever seen it, and she won't let herself trust another man." _Mainly, me_. He thought.

"You love her, don't you." Toph's voice was soft.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Zuko asked.

"No. It's a statement." Toph rolled her eyes.

"Yes. I do. But she holds no feelings towards me, as you have just witnessed."

Toph laughed. "You're so naïve. But then, I guess everyone isn't blind like I am. Her heartbeat starts going crazy whenever you walk into the room. She starts breathing faster. She shifts her position slightly to focus on you."

This time it was Zuko's time to laugh. "You sound serious. But maybe she just has a crush on me. She doesn't love me, we've been away from each other for too long."

"Ever heard the saying, 'distance makes the heart grow fonder'? Well, in this case it's true."

"You… you think I actually have a chance with her?" Zuko asked tentatively.

"You've had a chance ever since you met her. Go get her!" Toph cried.

Zuko stood up. He had made up his mind. Some small part of his brain said _I told you so. She gives you something that Mai can't._ He strode down the hall and into his room. He began to pace, thinking about his options.

Meanwhile, Katara was sitting in the garden. She played with the water, shaping it into animals and making them move- a Hog-monkey, a platypus bear, and even the earth king's bear.

She sensed rather than heard him come up behind her. She let the water drop onto the ground, and stood and turned.

He stood there, in all his fire nation glory. She wanted to run to him and kiss him for all her worth, but she stood still and forced her hands down to her sides. She remembered the last time she had trusted anyone with her feelings, and what had happened as a result.

Zuko sat on the bench and patted the other end of it. What had Toph told him that made him so wary?

"Katara, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what Aang… what he did. But what I do know is that he didn't mean it."

Katara sat down heavily. "Yes, he did. Why would he say it otherwise?"

"You don't know this, but there was a big meeting, of all the leaders. I foolishly asked Aang to represent the air nomads as well as being the avatar. I didn't know he'd get so stressed."

"You mean… he didn't… you… he…" Katara had never felt such sorrow in her whole life. But she knew what she had to say, and she forced the words out.

"Aang hurt me in more ways then one. I didn't really believe I was fat or ugly, but maybe he had a reason for saying those things. Maybe I was doing something wrong, acting wrong. I had never done that whole dating thing before, so maybe I was doing everything wrong. I had no idea.

"But then, the last night, he didn't say any put downs… but he just said that he didn't know why we had got together in the first place. He knew, from the way I walked and talked, that I just didn't love him.

"And he was right. I just didn't know it at the time. So I broke it off, thinking he was talking nonsense. That night I thought about who I supposedly 'loved'. And the only person who came to me, in my mind, was you.

"I thought it was stupid, since we barely knew each other, but then I remembered all those times together… fighting at the north pole, in the crystal catacombs, and when Azula attacked me… You judged my own life, my existence, more important then yours. I knew that if you had died, I would've died as well. Not exactly ended my life, but I certainly wouldn't have lived my life to the fullest.

"All of these factors seem to represent love. So I'm guessing what I'm trying to say is… I love you, Zuko. I don't know why we were thrown together, but whatever the reason is, I like it."

Katara scooted over to Zuko and began kissing him, fiercely. Zuko was so startled, he did nothing but sit there for a few moments, but then he began kissing her back. Katara laced her fingers through his hair and gripped it, so he couldn't pull away. She moved so she was sitting in his lap.

Zuko put both hands on the side of her face and gently pulled away. "You know what, Katara? I love you too." He kissed her, scooped her up in his arms and, without breaking the kiss, led her inside.

Toph came barrelling towards him. "Where's Kat- oh." She sensed the extra weight Zuko was carrying and laughed. "You got her! Well done!" She moved out of the way so the two lovebirds could pass. She was happy for her friend that she had found true love.


End file.
